Coaxial and triaxial cables are used in a variety of electronic applications in which electromagnetic shielding is desired to provide noise-free transmission of the signal carried by the central conductor of the cable. Triaxial cables, for example, which contain a center conductor to carry an information-bearing signal and two outer conductors to provide shielding, are often used in applications wherein it is desired to reduce noise levels to a minimum.
Triaxial cables are often terminated by triaxial electrical connectors. Many known triaxial connectors were relatively complicated devices comprised of a large number of loose pieces which were assembled by the user employing either a soldering or a crimping technique when the connectors were attached to triaxial cables. Assembly and attachment of such connectors to cables was a relatively time consuming and, therefore, expensive procedure.
Prior efforts to reduce connector complexity and assembly labor costs included designing the connector to contain one or more subassemblies in which some of the loose pieces were preassembled during manufacture of the connector. The subassemblies reduced the number of loose pieces in the connector, and, therefore, tended to simplify final assembly procedures. Many prior designs, however, were not fully satisfactory. Often, for example, the subassemblies themselves were difficult to assemble thus negating the reduction in labor costs achieved during final assembly.
Also, in many connector designs, it was difficult to ensure that the connector components were properly positioned with respect to one another and, once positioned, that they were maintained in proper position during assembly of the connector onto the cable. In many designs, for example, proper positioning of the electrical contacts in the connector depended on establishing and maintaining proper tension between assembled components by a threaded housing/ coupling nut arrangement; and misalignment of one or more of the electrical contacts frequently prevented the connector from properly mating with its complementary connector.